Forging Hearts
by NeoShadows
Summary: A cold night in a cell with teammate you trust with your life could give lot's of time to think. Especially if said teammate was a fire breathing Dragon Slayer you still had small mixed feelings about. A knights thoughts on her protective dragon.


**Hello fanfiction community! My name is NeoShadows and this is my first fanfiction on . To tell you the truth, I thought my first fanfic on this site would be a Naruto fanfic. But Fairy Tail's started to grow on me. So I though, what the hell? Now that I've got a new computer that actually let's me type on a good word document without freezing everytime I load it up, why not publish a Fairy Tail fanfic? I've been on for almost five years now, reading countless stories enough to make me a damn addict! Literally everyday I go on this site to look up the the Naruto, Fairy Tail, Bleach, One Piece, and Beelzebub sections of . I wanted to write fanfic's two years ago when I got my new computer but, my damn new computer got his with viruses that make it incapable of opening a word document. But now I got this new kick ass laptop that actually let's me type! And i've been making up for the that lost time by writing in countless of journals for last year and half! Needless to say, I got a lot of stories in said journals waiting to be published. But for now, I hope you enjoy this one-shot.**

**Don't worry, it definetly won't be my last.**

* * *

Erza frowned behind the steel bars of the cell she was currently residing in, sighing as she tried to find a comfortable position on the cold stone floor. She wouldn't of have to deal with uncomfortable cell if it wasn't for the fighting loving baka sitting cross legged across from her, pouting at the cold shoulder she was giving him. She honestly didn't know what to do with him.

The scarlet haired Titania had been brought in earlier on several charges of destruction involving the Lullaby incident. Of course that was all just a rouse to show a symbol of power the Magical Council still had. They would of eventually set her free with a pat on the wrist telling her not to do it again while the public would think she was severely punished. You know same old, same old. It wasn't like they, the great Magic council of Earthland, could really do anything to the great Titania.

Unfortunetly for Erza, the whole plan had been shot down, or burnt down in Natsu's case, by the pink haired dragon slayer of a friend she called teammate. Dame Natsu. The one time she had hoped that big hearted heart of his wouldn't come to her rescue and it failed. She sighed though as her usually stony brown eyes sotftend at the dragon slayer.

She be lying if she didn't appreciate the gesture even if it did get them a night in a cell. Trust Natsu to pull a stunt like that infront of the council. Erza had to hold back a few giggles remembering the ludicrous Erza disguise Natsu had dressed himself in to fool the council into shifting the blame onto him.

"I'm bored." Natsu said flatly catching the scarlet haired woman's attention, turning her head slightly to see the dragon slayer lazily spread himself onto the cell floor, " When can we just bust out of here, Erza? All this prison time starting to make me miss the fresh air of Magnolia. I think I'm even starting forgetting the sweet crisp taste of a grilled fish! We've been in here so long, I forgot the color of the clear open green sky!"

" It's clear open blue sky, you baka!"

"See!" the pink haired dragon slayer wildly exclaimed, " I can't take it anymore!" he growled before his stomach began to inhumanly expand with the tell tale signs of flames, " I'm busting us out of here! _**Karyuu no hou-"**_

Before Natsu could go forward with his powerful dragon breath attack, a hard gauntlet fist had deposited it's self towards his ballooned stomach, causing his _**Karyuu no Houko( Fire Dragon's Roar)**_ to die away with his breath. Natus gasped as he held his stomach, rolling on the stoned floor in pain while Erza glared down at her friend's well deserved agony.

The Titania sighed, shaking her head at her pink haired cellmate, " Stop overreacting Natsu. It's only been an hour or two since we got sentenced to the cell, so stop your childish whining. Be grateful the council only sentenced us to a night in imprisonment. I'm actually surprised." she smirked, " With all the damage you had inflicted onto the court room, I'd thought they would of at least stuck you in here for a whole day or two."

" You mean stuck us in here for a whole day or two." Natsu grinned despite the glare Erza sent his way.

" Shut it Natsu. Be thankful I'm not slicing you into fine cuts of Dragon Slayer meat."

Natsu quickly shut his mouth feeling the hot glare of the Titania pointed his way. If he didn't know any better, he probably would of mistaken the iron clad redhead as a fire mage. He swore he was beginning to sweat under her glare before she let it drop. He sighed in relief. Didn't want to be killed by Erza before finding Igneel.

Silence quickly followed between the two Fairy Tail mages, both not really having anything to talk about even though this was probably one of the few times either ones been alone together with each other. Even though they were childhood friends both Erza and Nats hadu never really had been alone by themselves before. Usually Gray, Mirajane, Cana, Elfman, of one of their guild mates had been present when they hanged out with each other. Hell, Happy was always with Natsu so he was never alone.

Erza felt ashamed of herself. She really shouldn't of been having trouble talking to Natsu of all people. She had been friends with him since he had joined the guild.

Well, not at first. She was sad to say that a small part of her had been a bit distrustful towards the Dragon Slayer. His personality reminding her of a certain blue haired council member of Magnolia.

_'' Remember Erza, don't mention anything about the tower of heaven to the council.''_

Erza quickly banished the thought from her mind. Natsu was nothing like Seigren or Jellal. He was the complete opposite.

But still. . . their had been small moments where Natsu's smiling face would twist into the mad grinning face of her former flame. It was probably that, that had made Erza want to befriend the grinning pink haired boy more then anything in the beginning. So that she could steer him into the right path instead of the one Jellal had followed in the tower of heaven.

_''What's wrong with me?''_ Erza inwardly groaned trying to shake away the guiltful thoughts invading her head, _'' Why I am I thinking like that? I don't think of him as Jellal anymore. That was a long time ago and I was wrong in my assumption. I'm pretty sure he would of ended up fine even if I had never met him. Why'd Natsu have to come to my rescue? If he had just stayed back at the the guild like he should of done then we would both be back at home and I wouldn't be having these thoughts.''_ if anything, it was that question that had irked her more then anything else really. Everyone else stayed back at the guild, even the master. So why didn't he?

Well, seeing as he was sitting across from her, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Natsu!" Erza called over to the Dragon Slayer, who stood up straight at the authority in her voice. He turned toward the re-equip mage looking at her puzzlingly, " I want ask you something and I want you to be completely honest with me when you answer me. Understood?"she said with a hard tone that left no room for disagreement. Seeing him quickly nod his head yes while swallowing lump in throat, Erza continued, " Why'd you break into the council to stop my trial? Everyone else back at the guild believed I'd be alright, so why'd you come?" she asked completely confused.

" Huh?" was his intelligent response, " Why'd I do it?" he asked himself as if he didn't understand the question before grinning at how stupid it sounded to him, " Because we're nakama of course! And their shouldn't be a reason for going out of your way to help out a friend. Your special to me Erza." he smiled as he closed his eyes, missing the small tinge of crimson that almost blended in with the knight's hair, "Just like everyone else is back at Fairy Tail is. If it means barging into the council pretending to be one of you guys while almost burning the place the down to protect you, then I'll gladly do it. Plus," he laughed getting a small smile out of Erza, " did you see some of the faces on the council! It was hilarious! They probably thought of me as some crazy dumb lunatic who thinks of nothing but fighting and fish! I think I even gave some old fart a heart attack!"

Natsu could careless about the council. They already hated him for numerous acts of property damage he had caused on a regular basis so he had nothing to lose. He wouldn't stand for the council placing the blame on one of his nakama's when he was also at fault. If they wanted to punish Erza, then they of better of punished him too. He was pretty sure even if he had known that the council would of just released Erza, he would still of barged in there.

He didn't know why, but he had always felt a bit overprotective of the scarlet haired knight. She was one of the few people that had brought him out of his loneliness that he had felt when Igneel had left him. She was his rival , his teammate, his friend, and even an older sister. She was special to him. And that was all he needed to know.

Erza smiled. She felt silly asking Natsu why he had come to break her out. If you were the dragon's slayer's nakama or if he had even considered you a friend that was all it would take for him lay down his life you. He was too loyal for his own good.

" Thanks Natsu." Erza smiled gratefully to the dragon slayer, " But you really got have more trust in me. I can take care of myself you know. I'm not an S-class mage for nothing." she smirked, her usual hard yet soft tone coming back to her.

" I don't care if your an S-class mage," he smirked back, " I'm still going to kick your ass. Are fights not over yet. I've gotten stronger since the last time we fought and just when we were getting warmed up, one of those damn council messengers had to take you away. When we get out of here, I expect us to finish what we started Erza."

" We'll see, Natsu." smiled Erza, yawning a bit as she spoke, " We'll see."

Hearing Erza yawn, Natsu rose his eyebrow questioningly at redheaded women, "You know if your tired you can sleep on the bed mat on your right." he said looking towards the single bed mat inside the cell.

Erza shook her head, " No. It's fine, Natsu. You should go take the bunk. You need it more then I do."

Natsu rolled his eyes. Their she goes again trying to look out for him like she always did. She did know he was a fire mage right? A Dragon Slayer to boot. He could warm up his body to the right temperature with his magic without even trying. That probably wouldn't matter anyway. Erza would still offer the bed to him.

" Erza, I'm fine. Unlike you, I can sleep almost anywhere. I've slept on cold floors before you know. My magic naturally warms me where your armor can be as cold as ice, unless your probably wearing an armor that also radiates heat. So take the damn bed already," he smiled causing a small blush to develop on the Titania's face, " I'll be fine. So go take your beauty sleep or whatever you girls call it that make you look cute. Lucy probably takes one everyday so that her face doesn't get all manly. Wonder how many hours of sleep she would need to do that."

Erza couldn't help but frown. She wanted to say that she had also slept on worse while she was a slave for the R System but instead chose to shut her mouth. That was still a sore subject that she had yet to of told anyone in the guild about. Even if she had been close friends with nearly everyone at the guild, she was still too hesitant to tell them about her tragic past, too nervous of what their reactions would be.

Well, not Natsu. She was pretty sure the Dragon Slayer would go mad with rage at what they had done to her as a child and would probably go sniffing out their scent just so he could more of less beat them into a bloody pulp.

So Erza decided just to take the young Dragon Slayers offer as she made her way to the bed bunk, thanking Natsu for the bed. Knowing Natsu, he would probably start a fight with her about who should get the bed bunk with each of them saying they should get it. As much as she would protest, Erza was tired. Might as well take the bunk.

As she quickly fell asleep, thoughts of her past and present drifter into her dreams. She dreamt of the friends she had lost, the friends she had gained, and a certain fire breathing Dragon Slayer that could make all her worries melt away with his smile.

_' Your special to me Erza.'_

Hmph. Dumb Natsu. The idiot was completely unaware that he was slowly melting away the the stone cold armor she had around her heart that no one could even scratch..

_'Baka. Your special to me too.'_

Natsu smiled hearing the the slow steady heart beat of the Titania that signified she was asleep with his sensitive hearing he gained from being a dragon slayer before a cold glare made it's way to his face that was completely opposite of the magic he used. For awhile now, he had felt a small dark source of magic that was trying to conceal itself from the two for the past hour. Erza probably felt it too but most likely didn't want to pay any attention towards it. Natsu wasn't Erza, so he had been wary of the presence and the scent it gave off. It was dark enough to make him sick to his stomach. At least now that Erza was asleep,he could keep watch over her without her questioning why.

A dragon had to protect his Queen after all.

* * *

Jellal smirked as he turned away from where the cell containing the Salamander and Titania was at. He knew the Dragon Slayer was good but good enough to detect his presence before the great Titania did was something else. The son Igneel was strong. He idly played with the idea of just how strong he was and who would win if they were to fight but shook it away with a smug smirk. If he couldn't even beat Erza yet, then he wasn't worth his time.

Jellal or Seigren as he was known by the magical council walked away from the cell, his thoughts quickly going back to the construction of the R System. It was almost down now. Maybe a week or two before it was finally time for him set his plan in it's final stages. He smirked darkly.

The Dragon could protect it's Queen as best he could but, in the end, Prince Charming and the Queens past subjects would come back to take her back to her castle. All for the sake of a perfect utopia for the kingdom.

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**That took me a bit longer then I expected. But when you have to share a laptop with a 15-year old girl addicted to twitter, tumblr, and facebook, it takes a lot out of your typing time. But atleast it's done. I've been writing since I was in 7th grade and I think I've improved a bit from when I usually spelled words like Friend like Freind. I just hope she one-shot was good enough to anyone who reads this. It's my first time writing and publishing something like this online, so some tips would great. A writer always has room to improve.**

**I also hope I got everyone's characters right. Again, first time writing stuff like this. If anyone hasn't noticed, this is set after the Natsu crashed the fake punishment Erza was about to be sentenced too before being sent to a cell for a night and Erza explained to Natsu that is was all a setup to make the council look good. This is just my thought of what might of happened for the rest of the night in the cell. You got to love that pairing. So much potential yet untouched.**

**If anyone's got any questions, just PM me. Right now I got to get the good old brain working on a new story while I'm on brake with The World After You. Who know's? It just might be NatZa fanfic. Hopefully a good one.**

**Remember to review, NeoShadows fading out.**


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